LAS VEGAS – Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, a Harvard graduate, indirectly went to bat for US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama when he took a swipe at the Republican party for bungling the American economy in a press conference after Manny Pacquiao knocked out David Diaz for the WBC lightweight title here Saturday night.

Arum announced an attendance of only 8,362 which wasn’t close to a sellout in the 12,000-seat Mandalay Bay Events Center and blamed President George Bush for keeping the fans away.

When Pacquiao outpointed Juan Manuel Marquez in the same venue last March, the attendance was a sellout.

But the difference was Marquez enjoyed widespread Mexican support and Diaz didn’t.

Diaz was born in Chicago to Mexican parents and represented the US, not Mexico, in the 1996 Olympics. Like Oscar de la Hoya who seems more American than Mexican, Diaz has no solid support from South of the Border.

In an attempt to woo Mexican fans, Diaz dedicated the fight to his parents’ homeland, saying, “I want to give this fight to Mexico – I know Manny doesn’t like it but he’s been beating up on a lot of my countrymen.”

Diaz, the youngest of nine children, is the only sibling born in the US.

“My dad (Anselmo) has been coming to the US since 1950,” said Diaz. “Our family was from the state of Guerrero. My mother is from a little town that you can only get there by boat. It’s called Acatlan. My dad is from Las Mesitas, a town that probably doesn’t exist anymore. My father used to stay in Sacramento, working the fields like any other Mexican immigrant who came to work. Then he finally settled in Chicago and he brought over my mom and a year later, my brothers and sisters came.”

It was obvious the Mexican legion was absent Saturday night. The arena was packed with Filipino partisans. The Mexican national anthem wasn’t even sung.

Still, Arum chose to point the finger at Bush even as the attendance wasn’t really that poor.

The confirmed attendance put to doubt Top Rank’s pronouncement that on the first day of box office sales last month, 7,000 tickets were gobbled up. There was no indication as to the rate of pay-per-view subscriptions.

“There’s one guy you can blame and that’s George Bush,” said Arum. “With gasoline prices the way they are, people just can’t afford to come in from California.”

Arum used the same storyline when Kelly Pavlik couldn’t deliver a big crowd from his Youngstown, Ohio, hometown for his recent fight in Atlantic City.

“I mean, it’s 400 bucks to drive from Youngstown,” said Arum. “What the hell is this coming to? I don’t care if it’s Obama or (John) McCain. We want a change and we’re going to get a change. These eight years have been the worst eight years that I can remember in the US.”

By the way, Republican candidate McCain authored the widely acclaimed Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act which provides for protection and welfare of fighters against abusive promoters and managers.

* * *

As for Pacquiao’s masterful display of superiority, Arum said it was because the Filipino icon moved up to a higher weight division where he is more comfortable.

“Miguel Cotto at 140, people were saying he had no chin, he wasn’t strong and he was wearing out,” said Arum. “Once he went to 147, he was a different fighter entirely. Some of these young men who struggle so hard to make weight are just kidding themselves. They’re better off going up a class and not trying to make a weight that depletes them.”

Trainer Freddie Roach agreed with Arum.

“It was the best Manny yet,” said Roach. “I think at 135, he looked great. At 135, Manny didn’t starve himself. He looked strong. He’s growing and 135 is a more natural weight for him.”

Curiously, Pacquiao had a little difficulty making the limit. Three days before the weigh-in, he desperately tried to shed off three to four unwanted pounds. He eventually checked in at 134 1/2. When he entered the ring, Pacquiao weighed 145.

Against Marquez, Pacquiao tipped the scales at 129 then ballooned to 149 at fight time. Pacquiao’s bloated condition led to some sluggishness, lack of mobility and a slow down in reflexes.

Strength and conditioning coach Alejandro Ariza worked on Pacquiao in the gym to get him physically ready for Diaz. Pacquiao added only 10 pounds from the weigh-in and it didn’t affect his speed at all.

LAS VEGAS – Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, a Harvard graduate, indirectly went to bat for US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama when he took a swipe at the Republican party for bungling the American economy in a press conference after Manny Pacquiao knocked out David Diaz for the WBC lightweight title here Saturday night...

That article was about attendance NOT ppv buys..

they're two completely different things.

_________________"But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned."(Matthew 12:36-37)

I don't know about the number of PPV buys but I'm sure Manny lost about 200,000 buys on sopcast & livestream.

The number is too much bro (unless you are just kidding). To put it simply, the sopcast and livestream will have a material effect on the total number of ppv buys. There must be a way to control or regulate these (sopcast and livestream).

PPV hits gross modest $12.5 MBy Abac Cordero Tuesday, July 8, 2008 The Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz title bout held in Las Vegas last week drew close to 250,000 hits on pay-per-view, according to Top Rank Promotions president Bob Arum.

“It was okay but not great,” the ageless promoter told a Filipino scribe of the pay-per-view sales that were released exactly a week after Pacquiao scored the sensational win.

The numbers paled in comparison to the 400,000 hits generated worldwide by Pacquiao’s 12-round showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez last March also in Las Vegas. The sales reached over $20 million.

Pacquiao’s three classic fights with Erik Morales drew a combined sales of 1 million pay-per-view hits.

Each hit is worth $49.95 and with close to 250,000 hits sales would reach around $12.5 million. After HBO and Top Rank get their share, the boxers will get theirs depending on what’s stated in the contract.

Pacquiao, the main draw, will get the lion’s share.

The crowd attendance during the fight held at the Events Center of Mandalay Bay wasn’t that great either. With a seating capacity of 12,000 official records showed an attendance of 8,362.

Promoters blamed the failure to pack the venue to the rising cost of gasoline prices as the ordinary fight fan coming in from as far as California would need a few hundred bucks for gasoline to get to Vegas.

Meanwhile, Arum is still hoping that he could find a Las Vegas venue for the planned Nov. 8 match between Pacquiao and Venezuelan knockout artist Edwin Valero.

Arum was informed the other day that the MGM Mirage group cannot accommodate the fight because of two big promotions around the date Arum wants.

There’s the Nov. 22 fight between Ricky Hatton and Paul Malignaggi and the Dec. 6 farewell fight of Oscar dela Hoya. Both fights are set at the MGM Grand, and officials think that it’s not a wise decision to bring in another promotion involving Pacquiao around those dates.

Arum said he’s now looking at the Thomas and Mack Center, where Pacquiao fought Morales twice, or Planet Hollywood.

An Internet report, however, quoted Thomas and Mack director Daren Libonati saying that his facility “wouldn’t work” for a Nov. 8 date because the Professional Bull Riders finals on that night, and a game featuring the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels on the 15th.

“We’re aggressively looking for a date that works for Bob and, potentially, Planet Hollywood,” Libonati said in the report, adding that an October date can be considered.

The numbers, the figures, the bottom line is what everyone is about today.

With the sensational performance by Manny Pacquiao several Saturdays ago, many critics and boxing fans were questioning as to how well the “Pacman” might perform on a Pay-Per-View in which he basically carried on his own back. I just spoke with Top Rank founder, Bob “Bobfather” Arum regarding the numbers and the potential November opponent for Pacquiao.

BB: I heard through the grapevine that Pacquiao-Diaz did about 250,000 buys. What’s the deal on this figure?

Arum: Comcast corporate won’t release any official number to us so it’s hard to say as to the exact amount of buys that took place. It’s hard to say what is exactly what but that number of 250,000 is about right from what I’ve heard. We’re pretty happy with the result. We probably got a little greedy throughout the media promotion and tours being that the live fan turnout was so great.

BB: Still though, 250,000 isn’t a bad figure being that it was basically Pacquiao selling on his own.

Arum: Exactly. If somebody had told us before we signed the fight that we’d do about 250,000 buys, I’d be very happy with that figure.

BB: So what’s going on with Edwin Valero getting cleared to fight in Nevada?

Arum: I have no idea. I was looking over the papers for him to fight in Texas and it makes me very optimistic that he’ll get cleared to fight in Nevada. There was an outside neurosurgeon that cleared Valero to fight in Texas and there’s no way that he would have allowed him to pass if he was in any danger due to his injury.

BB: What happens if he doesn’t get cleared to fight in Nevada? Is there anybody else you’re potentially looking at to fight Pacquiao?

Arum: Yes, it’s either going to be Valero or Soto but we’ll wait and see in the meanwhile.

BB: Sounds good Bob. Take it easy.

Arum: Thanks and take care.

250,000 isn’t bad with all things considered. A miserable financial crisis, no Erik Morales standing across the ring, and sky high plane ticket prices didn’t deter 250,000 households from shelling out the cash to see today’s best pound-for-pound fighter do what he does best… beat people down.

On another note, the potential clash between Manny Pacquiao and Edwin Valero will be a good barometer as to the power of the internet. Should this thing known as the “world wide web” cease to exist, I cannot fathom how any of us would even have a clue as to who Valero is.

Can you?

Either Soto or Valero will make for an extremely thrilling match-up this coming November as the “Pacman” continues his march to boxing immortality as he continues taking on the best that the 135 pound division has to offer. I can’t wait for November and 2009 as it will undoubtedly be one of Manny’s best…

-------------------------

SO THAT'S IT BROS !!!

_________________Micah 6:8 (NIRV)

The Lord has shown you what is good. He has told you what he requires of you.You must act with justice. You must love to show mercy.And you must be humble as you live in the sight of your God.

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